1987 Spanish Grand Prix
27 September |number = 449 |officialname = XXIX Gran Premio Tio Pepe de España |circuit = Circuito de Jerez |location = Jerez de la Frontera, Spain |circuittype = Permanent racing facility |lapdistance = 4.218 |laps = 72 |distance = 303.696 |pole = Nelson Piquet |polenation = BRA-1968 |poleteam = |poletime = 1:22.461 |fastestlap = 1:26.986 |fastestlapdriver = Gerhard Berger |fastestlapnation = AUT |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber = 49 |winner = Nigel Mansell |winnernation = GBR |winnerteam = |second = Alain Prost |secondnation = FRA |secondteam = |third = Stefan Johansson |thirdnation = SWE |thirdteam = }} The XXIX Gran Premio Tio Pepe de España, otherwise known as the 1987 Spanish Grand Prix, was the thirteenth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Circuito de Jerez on the 27 September 1987.'Spanish GP, 1987', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr449.html, (Accessed 05/04/2019) The race would see Nigel Mansell claim victory for , who duly collected their second straight Constructors' Championship with three races to spare. Indeed, Mansell and the entire Williams-Honda squad were on top during qualifying, although the Brit would be beaten to pole by Championship leading teammate Nelson Piquet. The anti-Williams challenge was led by the two s of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto, sharing the second row, while Ayrton Senna claimed fifth. The start of the race would see Mansell and Piquet squabble for the lead, with the Brazilian initially emerging ahead. The rest of the field would be led by a fast starting Senna, jumping the two Ferraris, while Thierry Boutsen gave chase in sixth. Mansell subsequently claimed the lead at the end of the opening lap, and duly eased away from his teammate during the early stages. They would both, however, managed to pull away from Senna, who was left at the head of a long train of cars through until the stops for fresh tyres. Indeed, there would be no significant changes to the top end of the field before the pit window opened, and when Mansell charged in and out of the pitlane without dropping behind Senna it seemed as if that would be that. However, a slow stop for Piquet would leave him stuck in the Senna train, with Alain Prost filtering into third between the two Brazilians. Prost would challenge his future teammate for second soon after, although a mistimed lunge would leave the Frenchman spinning down the order to sixth. Senna, meanwhile, was gambling on not making a stop, and so he slipped further and further away from Mansell, while the queue behind him simply grew and grew. Inevitably the Brazilian's tyres faded badly in the closing stages, allowing Piquet, Boutsen and Prost to flash through with ease. A mistake from Piquet, and a sympathy off from Boutsen then allowed Prost to sneak into second, while Stefan Johansson moved to third as those two scrambled back onto the circuit. With that the race was run, with Mansell cruising home to claim his fifth win of the season. Prost and Johansson claimed second and third for , while Piquet, Senna and Philippe Alliot collected the remaining points. Background Into the Championship and Nelson Piquet had opened out an eighteen point lead with four races to go in Portugal, although the Brazilian was set to lose potential points for the rest of the season due to the dropped scores rule. Indeed, that gave main rival Ayrton Senna hope for the final four races of the season, with the veteran racer only able to score seventeen more points, while Senna could claim a maximum 32. Nigel Mansell, meanwhile, had left Portugal 24 behind his title leading teammate, but could claim all 36 remaining points. In the Constructors' Championship, meanwhile, had done enough to prevent from taking the crown in Estoril, arriving in Spain with 62 points. Indeed, the Anglo-Japanese squad held a 48 point lead over their rivals with four races to go, and would land in Jerez with a second shot at claiming the title. had also remained in the chase for the Championship, although they were some 55 points off the lead with just 60 left to fight for. Jonathan Palmer had extended his lead in the Jim Clark Trophy last time out in Portugal, moving thirteen ahead of Philippe Streiff in the hunt for the cup. The Frenchman arrived in Spain as the only driver mathematically capable of beating Palmer with four races to go, with dropped scores not applied to the JCT. In the Colin Chapman Trophy, meanwhile, there had been a change at the bottom of the field in Portugal, having overtaken , while Champions had once again extended their lead. Entry list The full entry list for the is outlined below: * Entries with a white background denote eligibility for the Jim Clark Trophy and Colin Chapman Trophy. Practice Overview Qualifying Friday Qualifying Saturday Qualifying Qualifying Results The full qualifying results for the are outlined below: * A white background indicates an entrant in the Jim Clark Trophy. *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session. *'Bold' indicates a driver's best/qualifying time. ** Pirro's entry was withdrawn after Trussardi's registration as an entrant was rejected. Grid Race Report Results The full results for the are outlined below: * A white background indicates an entrant in the Jim Clark Trophy with numbers in brackets indicating their finishing position in that class. *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car. ** Cheever, Alboreto and Boutsen were all still classified despite retiring as they had completed 90% of the race distance. Milestones * declared as the FIA Formula One World Championship for Constructors' Champions. ** This was Williams' fourth title as a constructor.'13. Spain 1987', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/espagne.aspx, (Accessed 05/05/2019) ** It was also the second title for Honda as an engine supplier. * 250th Grand Prix to feature a chassis. * 200th entry for a Honda engined car.'1987 Spanish GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2015), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1987&gp=Spanish%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 05/04/2019) * registered their 50th entry at a Grand Prix. * Nelson Piquet recorded his 24th and final pole position. ** Also the 20th pole for a Honda engine. * Twelfth career victory for Nigel Mansell. * Williams claimed their 39th win as a constructor. ** Honda secured their 26th victory as an engine supplier. * Alain Prost set a new record for most podium finishes - 55. * Tenth podium finish for Stefan Johansson. Standings Fourth place for Nelson Piquet meant that his lead at the top of the Championship had remained at eighteen points with three races to go, although the Brazilian had reached his limit of eleven race scores. That meant that he would only be able to improve his tally with three better results than he had achieved previously, effectively reducing the number of points he could score. Behind, his nearest challenger was Nigel Mansell, who could still claim a full 27 points from the remaining races, with the Brit a point ahead of Ayrton Senna. In the Constructors' Championship, meanwhile, it was all over, with leaving Spain on 122 points and the Championship crown. Indeed, their closest challengers were some 50 points behind, and with only 45 available at the remaining races there was no chance of them catching the Anglo-Japanese squad. Instead, McLaren-TAG were set to duel with to claim second, although that battle may well have been settled as the former had opened out a fifteen point advantage at the end of the European season. Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown. Jim Clark/Colin Chapman Trophy With three races to go it seemed as if the inaugural Jim Clark Trophy would be fought for through to the end of the season, with Philippe Streiff moving within seven points of his teammate. Indeed, Jonathan Palmer had retained his lead in the JCT in Spain in-spite of the fact that he had failed to score, with those two set to duel for the crown. Their employers , meanwhile, had once again eased ahead in the Colin Chapman Trophy, with emerging in second ahead of . Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown. References Images and Videos: * References: Category:Grand Prix articles